Former
Sharks captain Owen Nolan showed a little of the flash that made him a San Jose
fan favorite, recording his first hat trick in 9 years to help knock off his
former team 5-4 in Calgary on Wednesday night. Filling the role of bit player
in the twilight of his career, Nolan beat the Sharks with the tenacity that
helped him earn a C in San Jose. The Sharks scored three 3rd period goals, but
their comeback bid came up short.

Physical play was the name of the
game in the opening period. Both teams went after each other with a plethora of
hits. Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf and Mathew Lombardi were particularly
feisty, recording 3 hits apiece in the opening stanza.

Sharks captain
Patrick Marleau would give the Sharks a 1st period lead with his 9th goal of
the season. Marleau carried the puck into the Flames zone an tried snapping a
shot from the right dot, but he flubbed the attempt. Rather than give up on the
play, Marleau kicked the puck back onto his own stick and whipped a shot past
Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

Things would get testy later in
the period when Phaneuf and Sharks defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh went after each
other after a wild scrum that involved several other players. Jeremy Roenick
threw his body around in defense of a teammate that escalated into a flurry of
bodies bouncing off of each other.

Former Sharks captain Owen Nolan
tied the game at 6:04 of the 2nd period on a nifty backhand shot from the slot.
Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh pinched on a play in the Calgary zone, springing
Craig Conroy on a break. The Sharks got back to brake up Conroy's chance, but
the puck found it's way to Nolan sitting by himself 10 feet in front of the
net. Ozolinsh got between Nolan and the goal, but he guessed that Nolan would
go to the forehand. Instead, Nolan snapped the no-look backhand shot past
Nabokov.

The Flames would strike again just 22 seconds later on a
defensive lapse by the Sharks. After winning the faceoff, centerman Dustin Boy
carried the puck up the right wing boards, before feathering a pass to Keith
Primeau. The former Shark chipped a shot off sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

Nolan and Mike Grier would mix it up less than 3 minutes later,
intensifying the physicality.

Joe Thornton would just miss knotting the game up on a
breakaway that ended with a backhand attempt that Kiprusoff would deny.

The Flames would make it 3-1 on a Phaneuf power play goal. He flames
had the man advantage after a questionable hooking penalty on Patrick
Rissmiller. Phaneuf took a centering pass from Adrian Aucoin at the point, then
cranked a shot past Nabokov.

The Sharks would just miss on a scoring
chance on their own power play at the end of the period, but Jonathan Cheechoo
was tripped in front of the net without a call. Cory Sarich would commit a
roughing penalty with 29 seconds left in the period to give the Sharks a brief
5-on-3 to end the period, but the opportunity would be wasted.

Nolan
would sink the dagger into the Sharks just 57 seconds into the 3rd period on a
horrendous mistake by Nabokov. Trying to clear the puck to one of his
teammates, Nabokov sent a pass up through the slot from the bottom of the right
circle. Nolan guessed which way the pass would go and intercepted the puck and
easily deposited it into the empty net.

Tomas Plihal would cut the
Flames lead to 4-2 on his first career goal 1:43 later. The Sharks rookie
carried the puck up the right wing then fired a shot on Kirpusoff that hit the
Flames goaltender in the chest, then fell to feet. Kiprusoff appeared to kick
he puck into his own goal, not realizing it was caught in his skates.

Nolan completed the hat trick at 10:45 on a poor defensive effort by the
Sharks. Alex Tanguay put a shot on Nabokov, but Christian Ehrhoff and Joe
Pavelski failed to corral Nolan as he broke for the net. With Nabokov sprawled
out on the ice, Nolan scooped up the rebound and slid it into the wide open
goal after cutting across the top of the slot from left to right.

Rissmiller scored a meaningless goal with 2 minutes to play to make it a 2 goal
game, ripping a shot over Kiprusoff's right shoulder.

Another Sarich
penalty gave the Sharks a power play with 1:23 to play. Cheechoo would convert
with 61 seconds left to make it a 1 goal lead for the Flames, but San Jose
couldn't et over the hump in the final minute. A final draw in the Flames zone
would float past both bluelines, ending the comeback bid.

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